{"id":18662,"date":"2020-06-16T14:26:07","date_gmt":"2020-06-16T13:26:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/?p=18662"},"modified":"2020-06-16T14:26:08","modified_gmt":"2020-06-16T13:26:08","slug":"as-lockdown-lifts-are-you-utilising-linkedin-to-find-new-customers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/2020\/06\/as-lockdown-lifts-are-you-utilising-linkedin-to-find-new-customers\/","title":{"rendered":"As Lockdown Lifts Are You Utilising LinkedIn To Find New Customers?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Across the country businesses are being given the green light to re-open following a lengthy period of closure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whilst there may be a range of practical considerations they need to be thinking about it\u2019s vital business owners aren\u2019t forgetting the importance of creating engaging and relevant content on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the message from content specialist and publicist Tina Calder<\/a> of Excalibur Press<\/a> who will be presenting her free webinar Supercharge Your LinkedIn With Great Content<\/a> tomorrow (Wednesday June 17) at 3pm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said: \u201cFor many businesses, especially those who are targeting business people or are working in a b2b setting, they should not underestimate the power of showing your customers that you\u2019re back, you\u2019re stronger than ever and able to give them content that they can and will engage with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen a crisis happens in a business more often than not things such as social media, digital marketing and communications tend to be pushed to the side in favour of what is considered an immediate need. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe problem with that is by the time you do put focus into these things it\u2019s often too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCreating strong, engaging, organic content now can help to support your brand to return to the market and back up your marketing and sales strategy for your comeback.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tina\u2019s 90-minute webinar Supercharge Your LinkedIn With Great Content will help attendees unlock some of the secrets of the popular b2b social platform and is packed full of top tips, tricks, tools and techniques to help you go it alone and do it yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tina added: \u201cThis webinar will go over some of the basics of optimising your profile, however, what we will focus on more is the content, what should you share, how do you share, where do you find it and how can you use it to maximise your opportunities, get sales leads and raise the profile of yourself, your brand and\/or your business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supercharge Your LinkedIn With Great Content<\/a> is part of a series of free webinars each week by Tina and Excalibur Press helping businesses look at a variety of elements of their digital transformation during the Covid-19 crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One element of this webinar is Tina\u2019s 79 types of content you can share on the platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To give you a taste of these, here are just 9:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.  How to<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u2018How to\u2019 content offers your audience massive value and often performs well because you\u2019re helping the audience to solve a problem that they (might) have. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, publishing this type of content benefits you because you\u2019re giving them an example of your expertise in your field. You can create a how-to video or set out the instructions step by step in text. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Either way, they\u2019ll thank you for it by consuming more of your content in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2.  Case studies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Case studies are a big opportunity to demonstrate the value of your product or service, often by telling a real-life story of how your business has helped a customer or client of yours with a business problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In essence, case studies are a sales tool. The person reading the case study should be able to picture themselves using your product or service by the end they finish reading it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The more interesting the angle or more challenging the client\u2019s problem, the better for your case study and you\u2019ll relate how your business was able to solve the problem for them. You should be portraying yourself as a supportive element and, ideally, you should back up the key points of your case study with data to convey the value of your product or service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3.  Behind the scenes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Maybe you\u2019ve heard it a million times before now, but it\u2019s really true: people buy from other people. They like to know who they\u2019re buying from and the behind-the-scenes content gives you a chance to really connect with your audience and humanise your brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Behind-the-scenes content is transparent, not excessively polished and, like a case study, is about the process. Your audience gets to see what\u2019s going on behind the brand and the content helps them to understand your business better. It builds trust in your business and your expertise starts to shine through naturally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4.  Opinion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

An opinion piece gets people talking and can even become news in itself, but be careful not to become notorious. If your opinion pieces leave a nasty taste in your audience\u2019s mouths regularly, they could harm your brand reputation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ideally, the pieces should be balanced and base themselves on an objective analysis of the facts and evidence, not necessarily be providing the evidence itself. Note that just because a piece should be balanced, that doesn\u2019t mean it can\u2019t be hard-hitting if it\u2019s appropriate to be so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The purpose of an opinion piece is to help the reader form their own opinion and should enlighten them or empower them. All throughout, the piece should be entertaining enough for them to read right until the end and make them want to read more pieces by you. Be careful not to impose your own views heavily on them. You\u2019ll lose your audience otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5.  Interviews<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Unique content is crucial in content marketing and interviews are a terrific way to create this. They\u2019re also an easy way to generate content. The person you\u2019re interviewing will create lots of valuable material you can use for your content. You can then create a text article, video or podcast of the interview. Experiment with different media to find the one that suits you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interviews give you the chance to reach out to influencers in the industry, who can offer some excellent insight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t worry about being on a \u2018lower\u2019 level than they are: the interview will give the influencer free publicity, so many will be happy to do it and if people see you interviewing several major influencers, they\u2019ll start to perceive you as having slightly higher authority. They start to associate your business with the major influencers and you\u2019ll become an influencer in your own right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6.  Throwbacks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Everyone loves a blast from the past, which makes \u2018throwback\u2019 content a powerful content marketing tool. It\u2019s nostalgic and allows you to create an emotional connection with their audience. It\u2019s also a lot of fun and you can really engage your audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One way you can create throwback content is to dig into your business\u2019s archives and share a video, picture or social post from your early days in the business. It could be from when you were just starting out and still trying to figure everything out as a business owner. You can compare yourself to now and discuss how far the business has come since then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7.  \u201cMeet the team\u201d posts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Introducing your audience to your team is a part of your brand storytelling. It\u2019s a powerful way to show your audience the people behind the brand, who are just as important as the company itself, and adds a personal touch to your content. Choose videos or text posts with an image, but either way, let people see your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publishing \u201cMeet the Team\u201d content will also build trust with your audience. This is because you\u2019re no longer \u201cfaceless\u201d. When your audience sees names and faces, you become a \u201creal\u201d company to them all of a sudden. In an age where people are concerned about online scams, your \u201cMeet the team\u201d content will build your credibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8.  FAQs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The chances are you\u2019ll hear some of the same questions a lot in your industry, which gifts you with a great opportunity to create truly valuable content for your audience in the form of FAQs. Make a note of the questions you hear most often \u2014 or even just all of the questions you hear \u2014 and create a separate LinkedIn post for each one and answer the question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can teach your audience and help them to learn about your industry. You can teach them about your products and services and how to use them successfully. You can discuss how you\u2019ve helped other businesses. Answering people\u2019s questions with your content will build trust and increase your credibility with your audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9.  Long form articles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Did you think that people want really short content on LinkedIn?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ll be surprised. The Content Marketing Institute has reported posts with 1 000 to 3 000 words get more shares<\/a>, even though shorter content dominates LinkedIn. Posts can be text heavy and have simple elements such as bullet-pointed lists. You don\u2019t have to pack them with images and charts etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CMI suggested three main reasons for the higher numbers of shares that longer posts enjoy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n